I'm Having A Really Hard Time Spending $587 On An IPhone 6 Plus

About four or five times now, I’ve gone to Apple.com or opened the Apple Store app on my iPhone, loaded my shopping cart with an iPhone 6 Plus, and then, at last minute — bailed.

The problem is that the phone is so crazy expensive.

It used to be that you could walk into an Apple Store and buy a good iPhone for $US200 — $US300 if you wanted one with slightly more storage space.

The iPhone 6 Plus starts at $US299.

But it only comes with 16GB of storage space. That’s too little for me. I’m currently using 24.5GB of storage on my iPhone 5.

Bumping the storage to 64GB is an extra $US100.

So now my price is up to $US399.

If that were the total price, I could probably close my eyes and pull the trigger.

But that’s not the total.

Next comes Apple Care, Apple’s warranty product.

I know that the conventional wisdom for smart shopping is to never buy the warranty.

The reason I always buy Apple Care is that I have not in the past, and it’s burned me.

I’m not the most sure-handed person and, a couple years ago, I dropped my iPhone 5 on the gym floor. I picked it up and it had a smashed, splintered screen — the kind that couldn’t be merely fixed.

I didn’t have Apple Care, and a replacement phone cost me $US250+. If I had Apple Care, it would have cost me just $US80. I know, because I got Apple Care for a replacement phone that I later dropped, and had fixed for cheap. Yes. I’m clumsy. Yes I need Apple Care.

With Apple Care and extra storage, the price of a new iPhone is up to $US499.

We’re still not done. A leather case from Apple costs another $US49.

The new total is $US547.

That’s all I would have to pay Apple, but it’s not all a new phone would cost me. There’s a “one-time upgrade fee” of $US40 that AT&T wants to charge me — even though I haven’t purchased a new iPhone since 2012.

All-in, a new iPhone 6 Plus would cost me $US587.

Every time I go through the motions of ordering a new phone, I end up staring at that number for a good three minutes. Then I close the window and move on with my life.

The truth is that for now, I’m pretty happy with my iPhone 5. It runs all the apps. I have a Mophie case on it, so the battery life is really good.

I know the iPhone 6 Plus has a better camera, but the iPhone 5 camera still feels like a huge upgrade over my old iPhone 4 camera.

Maybe I would love the bigger screen of an iPhone 6 Plus, but right now I don’t miss what I’ve never had. Maybe that’s because when I’m home, I have my iPad Mini to use — and its screen is even bigger than the Plus’s.

When I’m walking around town, my iPhone 5 fits in my pocket nicely. It’s easy to use with one hand.

I’m not saying I’m never going to buy an iPhone 6 Plus because of its price.

In fact, it’s a pretty safe bet that I eventually will.

But it’s not going to happen until one of two things happen:

NOW WATCH: Tech Insider videos

Want to read a more in-depth view on the trends influencing Australian business and the global economy? BI / Research is designed to help executives and industry leaders understand the major challenges and opportunities for industry, technology, strategy and the economy in the future. Sign up for free at research.businessinsider.com.au.